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While currently available PCSK9 inhibitor medications to lower cholesterol must be administered every few weeks by injection, a new, investigational PCSK9 inhibitor called recaticimab safely lowered bad cholesterol more than 50% when injected every 1–3 months, depending on dose.

A new PCSK9 inhibitor (recaticimab) injected every one to three months may work safely and provide more flexible dosing to lower cholesterol, according to late-breaking science presented today at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2023. The meeting, Nov. 11–13, in Philadelphia, is a premier global exchange of the latest scientific advancements, research and evidence-based clinical practice updates in cardiovascular science.

“Previous studies found that 30% to 40% of people discontinued their current PCSK9 therapies, given every two to four weeks, during or after six months of beginning treatment. More flexible dosing with recaticimab, given up to every 12 weeks, might increase the proportion of people with high levels of bad cholesterol to stick with their recommended treatment to lower bad cholesterol levels and reduce risk of heart disease,” said lead study author Xin Du, Ph.D., a professor of cardiology at Beijing Anzhen Hospital and the Capital Medical University in Beijing, China.

Two Eötvös Loránd University researchers have made an exciting breakthrough in understanding how we age.

Researchers Dr. Ádám Sturm and Dr. Tibor Vellai from Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary have achieved a significant discovery in the study of aging. Their research centered on “transposable elements” (TEs) in our DNA

DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is a molecule composed of two long strands of nucleotides that coil around each other to form a double helix. It is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms that carries genetic instructions for development, functioning, growth, and reproduction. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA. Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA).

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has made a groundbreaking development in brain-computer interface technology. They have unveiled an AI system that can decode visual representations and even “hear” what someone is hearing by studying their brainwaves. These advancements in brain-machine interface technology have the potential to transform our relationship with artificial intelligence and its potential applications in healthcare, communication, and virtual reality.

The University of Texas at Austin has developed a new technology that can translate brain activity into written text without surgical implants. This breakthrough uses functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) scan data to reconstruct speech. An AI-based decoder then creates text based on the patterns of neuronal activity that correspond to the intended meaning. This new technology could help people who have lost the ability to speak due to conditions such as stroke or motor neuron disease.

Despite the fMRI having a time lag, which makes tracking brain activity in real-time challenging, the decoder was still able to achieve impressive accuracy. The University of Texas researchers faced challenges in dealing with the inherent “noisiness” of brain signals picked up by sensors, but by employing advanced technology and machine learning, they successfully aligned representations of speech and brain activity. The decoder works at the level of ideas and semantics, providing the gist of thoughts rather than an exact word-for-word translation. This study marks a significant advance in non-invasive brain decoding, showcasing the potential for future applications in neuroscience and communication.

A speech prosthetic developed by a collaborative team of Duke neuroscientists, neurosurgeons, and engineers can translate a person’s brain signals into what they’re trying to say.

Maples Scientific Publisher brings together the best original research, analyses, reviews, news updates, practice updates, and thought-provoking editorials.

New light activated cancer treatment.

Several antibodies and antibody fragments have been previously developed for the treatment of various diseases, including cancer^3,4. These antibodies bind to cell surface receptors expressed at higher levels on cancer cells, addressing a major challenge of selective cell targeting in cancer therapy. Although full-length antibodies have shown promise for treatment of several cancers, limited success has been demonstrated in eliminating solid tumors. Due to their large size, full-length antibodies are unable to diffuse deep into solid tumors⁵. In addition, it has been shown that high-affinity antibodies bind to the periphery of the tumor tissues, forming a barrier and preventing their further penetration⁶. Some studies in patients with cancer estimate that only 0.01% of the injected antibodies accumulate per gram of solid tumor tissue⁷. Small antibody fragments with low molecular weight can diffuse much deeper into tissues, presenting an excellent alternative to full-length antibodies. However, small antibody fragments have a low residence time in the body and often have a higher rate of dissociation (k_off) from the target compared with full-length antibodies, limiting their clinical utility⁸. To address these challenges, antibody fragments are often multimerized^9,10 and/or conjugated to larger proteins¹¹, which increases the size of antibody fragments, again reducing their ability to penetrate into the tumor.

One solution to overcome the limitation of low residence time would be to replace the noncovalent interactions between the antibody fragment and its antigen with a covalent bond. In a notable effort, an affibody containing a photocrosslinker in its antigen binding region was shown to covalently link to its antigen and demonstrated higher accumulation on tumor tissues¹². Another pioneering study involved developing affibodies containing a latent bioreactive amino acid in their antigen binding region that forms a covalent bond with the target antigen by proximity-dependent reaction without any external impetus¹³. However, the former had substantially lower binding affinity compared with its wild-type (wt) counterpart and thus, requires using a high concentration for efficient initial binding, while the latter could react with target antigen expressed on healthy cells causing side effects.

Continue reading “Site-specific encoding of photoactivity and photoreactivity into antibody fragments” »

This is a nontoxic version of cancer treatment that works on any type of cancer.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting women in Singapore. Treatment is multimodal and often involves surgery to remove the cancer and lymph nodes involved.

Adjuvant therapy, given after the initial treatment, is used to irradiate and destroy micrometastases, which are cancer cells in the blood stream or lymphatics, to decrease recurrence. This form of therapy is subdivided into local (radiotherapy) and systemic therapy (endocrine therapy, chemotherapy and targeted therapy).

Continue reading “New tumor-selective light treatment could kill breast cancer cells with greater accuracy and improve tumor control” »

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Continue reading “Epigenetic Test #9: Finally, A Younger Horvath Age Than the Chronological” »

The original definition of the chosen word is to “seem to see, hear, feel, or smell” something that does not exist, usually because of “a health condition or because you have taken a drug”

The psychological verb gained an extra meaning in 2023 that ‘gets to the heart of why people are talking about artificial intelligence’